Friday, December 31, 2010

A novelty item from a chariy shop recently - an EP on the EMI label from 1966. I seem to remember the Highway Code song sung in a kind of Gregorian Chant being played on the radio back in the 60's.

"The Mastersingers first appeared on a television show starring Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, broadcast for the first time on Christmas Day 1982. Since then their format has changed several times and they have worked with a host of people including Howard Keel, Wendy Craig, Roger Whittaker, Mary O'Hara, Moira Anderson, Ken Dodd, Vince Hill, Gemma Craven, George Hamilton IV and many more. For many years recording was their prime function, providing vocal backing for the stars mentioned above and occasionally taking the limelight themselves.

The Mastersingers developed a very special relationship with Malcolm Williamson CBE AO. Master of the Queen's Music. He was commissioned to wnte "Love's Redeeming Work Is Done" for the group to sing in the Dewsbury Festival of Christian Music in 1995. Several members of the group have known Malcolm since he worked in Yorkshire some sixteen years ago, leading courses for teachers and children on some of his music. The Mastersingers recorded an album of his choral music on the 21st and 22nd of September 1996 in the chapel of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. It is now on general release. "Love's Redeeming Work Is Done" was broadcast on "Songs of Praise" on BBC1 on 27th and 28th November 1995.

The group returned to Abbey Road Studio 2 in January 1998 to record their fourth album, "Rhapsody". This. together with their first two albums, "Softly" and "Beautiful Music, Dangerous Rhythm" are on sale, along with their Williamson album. "Love's Redeeming Work"."

A recent charity shop aquisition in Chester. On the HMV label from 1970. A strange mixture of prose , poetry and songs to give a flavour of Australia back then. All the usual suspects are here including Rolf Harris and The Seekers representing the popular vote and balanced with some folk songs and classical with the likes of Joan Sutherland and The A.B.C. Symphony Orchestra. Compiled and narrated by John Clements.

As everyone seems to be uploading all their Christmas junk, I thought I would find a few horrors lurking in my collection and join in with the festive fun ( or not, as the case may be ). This LP on the Major Minor label was released in 1968 when Freddie was at the height of his powers. As you will hear his comedy was not very subtle and relied heavily on a strange impediment - a lisp with a limp.

"He learned his craft as a Butlin's Redcoat in the 1950s. By 1963 he had pulled an old hat over his face and adopted a ferocious lisp to become "Parrot Face", pronounced "Parrot Faith".

A sniffy producer at the BBC told him: "You can't do that voice - it's an impediment."

Two years later, having won Opportunity Knocks outright and become a national favourite, Davies returned to the Beeb. Was his "impediment" now acceptable?

"I suppose it will have to be," flounced the same producer.

But as quickly as he flew to stardom, this Parrot vanished from sight. New, alternative comedy came along and tastes changed, he smiles ruefully.

"People get fed up with performers doing the same thing and they move on, particularly with comedy in the 1980s."

And yet there's more to it than that. Looking back, he reckons he was never focused enough to be a great comedian.

"A lot of comedians are not very nice people," he confides. "They have this single-minded selfishness. I wanted other things."

He had a spell in drama management, spent years entertaining cruise-liner passengers, starred in the brilliant Lee Evans film Funny Bones, toured in the Victoria Wood play Talent, and became a fixture for two years in the TV series Harbour Lights."

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A recent charity shop find. Rather battered sleeve and scratched vinyl but always interesting to hear Harry's versions of old calypsos. A few well known ones here and some not so well known like Coconut Woman and Scratch Scratch which are really quite good despite the heavenly choir in the background. Not a patch on the real thing but worth a listen.

"Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York, to pay for his acting classes. The first time he appeared in front of an audience he was backed by the Charlie Parker band, which included Charlie Parker himself, Max Roach, and Miles Davis among others. At first he was a pop singer, launching his recording career on the Roost label in 1949, but later he developed a keen interest in folk music, learning material through the Library of Congress' American folk songs archives. With guitarist and friend Millard Thomas, Belafonte soon made his debut at the legendary jazz club The Village Vanguard. In 1952 he received a contract with RCA Victor.

His first wide-release single, which went on to become his "signature" song with audience participation in virtually all his live performances, was "Matilda", recorded April 27, 1953. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) became the first LP to sell over 1 million copies (Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons", both singles, had previously surpassed the 1 million mark). The album is number four on Billboard's "Top 100 Album" list for having spent 31 weeks at number 1, 58 weeks in the top ten, and 99 weeks on the U.S. charts. The album introduced American audiences to Calypso music (which had originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 20th century) and Belafonte was dubbed the "King of Calypso," a title he wore with some reservations, since he had no claims to any Calypso Monarch titles."

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Another great 80's radio show from DJ Charlie Gillett - this time guest is Congolese band leader Fan Fan who used to play with Franco & OK Jazz and now with his own band Somo Somo. Despite the language barrier ( Fan Fan speaks no English ) Charlie manages to entertain us with the help of a interpreter. Some nice music from Franco, Rocheureax and Mblia Bel to name but a few.

Continuing homage to late great DJ Charlie Gillett - a Foreign Affiar from Capital Radio back in the early 80's with guests Ebenezer Obey and Joe Hagan. Some great choices of music from all including much Nigerian Ju Ju and tracks from Ebenezer's latest album at the time.

Wikipedia says -

"Obey, whose full name is Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi, was born in Idogo, Ogun State, Nigeria of Egba-Yoruba ethnic background. He is of the Owu subgroup of the Egba. He began his professional career in the mid-1950s after moving to Lagos. After tutelage under Fatai Rolling-Dollar's band, he formed a band called The International Brothers in 1964, playing highlife-juju fusion. The band later metamorphosed into Inter-Reformers in the early-1970s, with a long list of Juju album hits on the West African Decca musical label.

Obey began experimenting with Yoruba percussion style and expanding on the band by adding more drum kits, guitars and talking drums. Obey's musical strengths lie in weaving intricate Yoruba axioms into dance-floor compositions. As is characteristic of Nigerian Yoruba social-circle music, the Inter-Reformers band excel in praise-singing for rich Nigerian socialites and business tycoons. Obey, however, is also renowned for Christian spiritual themes in his music and has since the early-1990s retired into Nigerian gospel music ministry.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

An LP from 1967 on the Wirl label featuring some great tracks that were to inspire another generation of bands during the Two Tone ska revival a few years later.

Wikipedia says -

"After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from Southern United States cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino and Louis Jordan.The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music, and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems. As jump blues and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres. The style was of bars made up of four triplets, similar to that of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" by Nina Simone, but was characterized by a guitar chop on the off beat - known as an upstroke or skank - with horns taking the lead and often following the off beat skank and piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank. Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the 3rd beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the third beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The upstroke sound can also be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as mento and calypso."

Monday, November 29, 2010

From a cassette of an LP called Live At The Laughing Academy. They have been around a while it seems and still functioning today though the personel of the band has changed a bit.

The bands website says -

"If life is like a tale told by an idiot, then being in the Armpit Jug Band is a lot more like life than we realised. What Strange Chemistry connected this band?

Before the Armpit Jug Band there was the Gosford Armpit Band. And before that there were several disparate and desperate individuals wandering the mysterious and joyous landscape of the early 60s.

Jazz Beasley and Hot Lips Haines, his surly companion in schoolboy criminality, were struggling out of the musical straightjackets of the Boys Brigade to form the ill fated Tame Valley Juke Stompers. It foundered on the rocks of discordant incompetence. Little Wedge Beasley was kicking at his pushchair straps and beating his Tommee Tippee in time to Budgie and Iron Maiden.

Somewhere on the others side of the Birmingham tracks, in the depths of Shard End, was T-Bone "Axeman" Jones, treading the solitary path of a blues Visionary. He was to be a catalyst in the evolution of Fleetwood Mac . . . He told Peter Green to give all his money away.

In the days when Fred West was just another cowboy builder with a spare bag of cement .... somewhere in Gloucester was Stringbean, the tortured aesthete standing alone in the shadows of the match factory . . . England's Glory! He tossed a coin up into the foggy glare of a sodium lamp and lost his bus fare home.

Jazz and Stringbean, with others too inept to mention, became the Gosford Armpit Band while students in Coventry. At first it was just holding hands . . . but before they knew it they were going steady. There were hours of rehearsal . . . ( was it 3 or 4?) . . . in a tiny room made of foetid with the secretion of bodily odours and the acrid smouldering of Park Drives.

At last they were ready to thrust themselves into the world of musical history. "

An Lp on the Syliphone label from Paris. The band itself are from Guinee in West Africa. I have feaured them before some years ago and so well overdue for another airing. The brass always sounds a little out of tune to me but that just adds to it's charm somehow.

Wikipedia says -

"In the aftermath of the Guinean Independence in 1958 and through the cultural policy of "authenticite", which encouraged cultural pride, numerous bands were created throughout the regions of Guinea. Guinea's President, Ahmed Sékou Touré, disbanded all private dance orchestras and replaced them with state-supported groups, such as Keletigui et ses Tambourinis and Balla et ses Balladins. The most popular was Bembeya Jazz National, formed in 1961. Specializing in modern arrangements of Manding classic tunes, Bembeya Jazz National won 1st prize at two national arts festival's in 1964 and 1965 and were crowned "National Orchestra" in 1966.

Initially an acoustic group, featuring a Latin-flavored horn section of saxophone, trumpet, and clarinet, Bembeya Jazz National reached its apex with the addition of lead singer Aboubacar Demba Camara. The group toured widely, and became one of the most well-known groups in Africa. Among their biggest hits were the songs "Mami Wata" and "Armee Guineenne".

Bembeya Jazz National’s most ambitious album, Regard Sur Le Passe, released in 1968, was a musical tribute to the memory of Samory Touré, who founded a Mande conquest state in much of what is now northern Guinea in 1870, and who became a nationalist emblem following 1958."

Sunday, November 28, 2010

A cassette on Frank Zappa's "Straight" label from the 70's I would imagine. Not much info. on the sleeve. Two tracks from Side One called marquis De Sade and Governor Slugwell. I can't quite see the appeal but somebody out there might like it.

Wikipedia says -

"Born to English immigrants in Tuolumne, California, Buckley's earliest years are unclear, although he's referred to as an "ex-lumberjack". By the mid-1930s he was performing as emcee in Chicago at Leo Seltzer's dance marathons at the Chicago Coliseum, and worked his own club, Chez Buckley, on Western Avenue through the early 1940s. During World War II Buckley performed extensively for armed services on USO tours, where he formed a lasting friendship with Ed Sullivan.

In the 1950s Buckley hit his stride with a combination of his exaggeratedly aristocratic bearing (including waxed mustache, tuxedo and pith helmet) and carefully enunciated rhythmic hipster slang. Occasionally performing to music, he punctuated his monologues with scat singing and sound effects. His most significant tracks are retelling of historical or legendary events, like "My Own Railroad" and "The Nazz". The latter, first recorded in 1952, describes Jesus' working profession as "carpenter kitty." Other historical figures include Gandhi ("The Hip Gahn") and the Marquis de Sade ("The Bad-Rapping of the Marquis de Sade, the King of Bad Cats"). He retold several classic documents such as the Gettysburg Address and a version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." In "Mark Antony's Funeral Oration", he recast Shakespeare's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" as "Hipsters, flipsters and finger-poppin' daddies: knock me your lobes."

Buckley adopted his "hipsemantic" from his peers Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Redd Foxx, Pearl Mae Bailey, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra, as well as Hipsters and the British aristocracy.

Buckley enjoyed smoking marijuana. He wrote reports of his first experiences with LSD, under the supervision of Dr. Oscar Janiger, and of his trip in a United States Air Force jet. Ed Sullivan reflected "...he was impractical as many of his profession are, but the vivid Buckley will long be remembered by all of us."

Lord Buckley made an amusing appearance on Groucho Marx's popular TV programme "You Bet Your Life" where he recited a few lines of his monologues."

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A charity shop find from a few years back. This LP on the Philips label is was released in 1971 and features songs made famous by another great comedy duo Flanagan and Allen.

"The theatrical/TV impresario Bernard Delfont gave Morecambe and Wise their own ITV show after the pair appeared frequently on the small-screen in 1960, notching up 12 spots on Val Parnell's Sunday Night At The London Palladium. Now the same network pitched them into a show of their own, teaming the comedians with another double-act, the writers Sid Green and Dick Hills. Sid and Dick, as they soon became known to the nation, also ventured out from behind-the-scenes to feature in front of the cameras with the comics.

The first ATV series - broadcast live each week from the Wood Green Empire in north London - was so successful that a second run was commissioned and given a Saturday primetime slot; from here on, after seven years of irregular TV appearances, Morecambe and Wise were firmly established as stars of the medium and Britain's best comedy double-act. Catchphrases soon developed, with Eric as the wag and Ernie the butt of all jokes: Morecambe would grab Wise by the throat and remark 'Get out of that!'; Morecambe would claim that Wise possessed 'short fat hairy legs'; the two comics, with their scriptwriters, sang a catchy comedy song that attained national fame, 'Boom Oo Yatta Ta Ta'; and every programme ended with the first line - but never more - of the age-old dirty joke 'There were these two old men sitting in deckchairs...'.

As a result of these marvellous ITV shows, Morecambe and Wise branched out into the cinema with three starring feature films, The Intelligence Men, That Riviera Touch and The Magnificent Two, released in 1964, 1966 and 1967 respectively."

Side one tracks are - Underneath The Arches, Run Rabbit Run, Umbrella Man, Are You Havin' Any Fun, Strollin' and A Shanty In Old Shanty Town.Side two tracks are - Down And Out Blues, Nice people, Hometown, Dreaming, Can't We Meet Again and Where The Arches Used To Be.

More ska and rock steady from 1966 on the Atlantic label of all places. One thinks of Atlantic as a soul and rock label but obviously they tried to branch out further afield. Not sure how many other reggae artists they represented.

Wikipedia says -

"Lee was born in Christiana in Manchester Parish to an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Chinese father (a language teacher) originally from Kowloon, Hong Kong. His mother was from Auchtembeddie, where mento and junkanoo were popular musical forms, and his family actively upheld the cultural and musical traditions of their African ancestors. The family moved to the Mountain View Gardens area of Kingston when Lee was around 8 or 9. He learned to play piano at a convent school in Mandeville, but put music on hold when he became a member of the Jamaican national football team. He taught himself to play bass on a homemade instrument, and around 1950, along with his friend Carl Brady, he formed the first incarnation of the Dragonaires, named after the college football team that they played for, at that time concentrating on mento. The band turned professional in 1956 and went on to become one of Jamaica's leading ska bands, continuing since and taking in other genres such as calypso, Soca, and Mas.

In late 1959 or 1960 Byron Lee is known to have introduced the electric bass to Jamaica. However, the reason Lee began to use the electric bass as opposed to its stand-up counterpart had nothing to do with sound. Rather, it was a way for Lee to avoid carrying the large and heavy stand-up bass to the truck to move from gig to gig. The bass guitar soon gained popularity throughout the country and soon became the standard. The electric bass' louder, clearer, and more in your face sound soon changed the entire sound of Jamaican music entirely, especially after Skatalites bassist Lloyd Brevett took a liking to it.

Lee also worked as a producer, producing many of the ska singles by The Maytals, and his entrepreneurial skills led to him setting up the Byron Lee's Spectacular Show tour, which involved several Jamaican acts (including The Maytals) touring the Caribbean. He also became the head of distribution in Jamaica for Atlantic Records. Lee purchased the West Indies Records Limited (WIRL) recording studios from Edward Seaga after fire had destroyed the pressing plant on the same site, and renamed it Dynamic Sounds, soon having a new pressing facility built on the site. It soon became one of the best-equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international recording artists, including Paul Simon and The Rolling Stones. Lee's productions included Boris Gardiner's Reggae Happening, Hopeton Lewis's Grooving Out on Life, and The Slickers' "Johnny Too Bad". Dynamic also acts as one of Jamaica's leading record distributors."

An LP on the Coxone label from Jamaica from 1968. Ska and Rock Steady instrumentals with an infectious shuffling beat.

Wikipedia says -

"He was born Donat Roy Mittoo in Browns Town, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, and began learning to play the piano when he was four under the tutelage of his grandmother.

In the 1960s he was a member of The Skatalites, The Rivals, The Sheiks, The Soul Brothers and The Soul Vendors. Among Mittoo's contributions in the mid to late 1960s were "Darker Shade of Black" (the basis for Frankie Paul's "Pass the Tu Sheng Peng"), Freddie McGregor's "Bobby Babylon", Alton Ellis' "I'm Still in Love with You", The Cables' rocksteady anthem "Baby Why" and Marcia Griffiths' first hit, "Feel Like Jumping". He played for Lloyd "Matador" Daley in 1968 and 1969.

He emigrated to Toronto, Canada at the end of the 1960s. There he recorded three albums, Wishbone (Summus), Reggae Magic (CTL) and Let's Put It All Together (CTL). He also set up the Stine-Jac record label, as well as running a record store.

In 1970, his song "Peanie Wallie" was versioned by The Wailers, becoming the hit "Duppy Conqueror". He had a hit with Wishbone in 1971. He performed in local Toronto lounges throughout the 1970s. Mittoo assisted Toronto-area reggae musicians, including Earth, Roots and Water, Esso Jaxxon (R. Zee Jackson), Carl Harvey, Lord Tanamo, Boyo Hammond, Carl Otway, The Sattalites, Jackie James and Jason Wilson. Mittoo continued to record for Jamaican producers in the 1970s, mostly Bunny Lee.

In the 1980s, he worked regularly with Sugar Minott. In 1989, Mittoo joined the reunited Skatalites, but health problems soon forced him to bow out. In 1989 and 1990 he recorded Wild Jockey for Lloyd Barnes’ Wackies label.

Mittoo entered a hospital on 12 December 1990 and died of cancer on 16 December at the age of 42. His funeral was held at the National Arena in Kingston, Jamaica, on 2 January 1991. Hortense Ellis, Neville 'Tinga' Stewart, Desmond "Desi Roots" Young, Ruddy Thomas, Tommy Cowan, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd were among the attendees. A memorial concert was held around the same time, with performances by Vin Gordon, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Glen 'Bagga' Fagan, Pablo Black, Robert Lynn, Michael "Ibo" Cooper, Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, Carlene Davis, Tinga Stewart and others."

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Another Cheshire Street find from the 80's. On the Magic Tirelir Disques label produced in Paris, France around the same time I imagine. Originally from the Antilles I believe but not quite sure as very little on the internet about Les Gipsons - nothing in fact!Side two comprises Rive Nous Rive, Monia and Dynamite Gipsons.

Wikipedia says -

"The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the Northern and Eastern portion of the North Billerica. Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music; much of the folk and popular music is also a part of the Afro-American musical complex, being a mixture of African, European and indigenous American elements. The Lesser Antilles' musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the European slaveholders added their own musics into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In many ways, the Lesser Antilles can be musically divided based on which nation colonized them.

The ex-British colonies include Trinidad and Tobago, whose calypso style is an especially potent part of the music of the other former British colonies, which also share traditions like the Big Drum dance. The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe share the popular zouk style and have also had extensive musical contact with the music of Haiti, itself once a French colony though not part of the Lesser Antilles. The Dutch colonies of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba share the combined rhythm popular style. The islands also share a passion for kaseko, a genre of Surinamese music; Suriname and its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana share folk and popular styles that are connected enough to the Antilles and other Caribbean islands that both countries are studied in the broader context of Antillean or Caribbean music."

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Another Cheshire Street find I think from the 80's. No date on this Siboney label LP from Cuba but imagine its early 80's or maybe even the 70's.Very little gleaned about Orchestra Chepin only this bad Google translation -

"La Orquesta Chepin-Choven sesentenaria arises l932 June 24 in the city of Santiago de Cuba. Has been to elect directors Horruitinier Rosell (Chepn) and Bernardo Chaovn (Choven), Orestes and currently Choven desempea Garbey Jos Ramon Hernandez. Agrupacin is a dedicated to the development and dissemination of popular dance music Cuabana.

It has a band jazz orchestral format.

An important moment in the history of this versartil agrupacin he has sown points to be followed by other musical and dance are 14, what is its presentation in the ler reorganizaciny. Disc Festival in the eastern provinces (l971)

Its repertoire is composed of various genres of music and cultivated mainly bolero, Creole, guaracha, son, danzn, Son Montuno and rhythm chepinsn.

This seems appropriate to uplaod just before Rememberence Sunday - a factory pressing of what seems to be an Argo label LP of poems and prose from the Great War (1914 - 18 ). Not sure who is reading on here as no sleeve available or info. found on the internet. Certainly very moving and sad reminder that war isn't such a great idea.

Just found a copy with sleeve visible on eBay which says the people reading the poems and prose include Hugh Burden, Michael Horndern, C. Day Lewis, John Stride, Gary Watson and Patrick Wymark.

Monday, November 08, 2010

Greatly underrated reggae singer who died a couple of weeks ago. This LP on the Taxi label was produced in the 80's by Sly and Robbie.

Wikipedia says -

"In his teens, Isaacs became a veteran of the talent contests that regularly took place in Jamaica. In 1968, he made his recording debut with a duet with Winston Sinclair, "Another Heartache", recorded for producer Byron Lee. The single sold poorly and Isaacs went on to team up with two other vocalists (Penroe and Bramwell) in the short-lived trio The Concords, recording for Rupie Edwards and Prince Buster. The trio split up in 1970 and Isaacs launched his solo career, initially self-producing recordings and also recording further for Edwards. In 1973 he teamed up with another young singer, Errol Dunkley to start the African Museum record label and shop, and soon had a massive hit with "My Only Lover", credited as the first lovers rock record ever made. He recorded for other producers to finance further African Museum recordings, having a string of hits in the three years that followed, ranging from ballads to roots reggae, including "All I Have Is Love", "Lonely Soldier", "Black a Kill Black", "Extra Classic" and his cover version of Dobby Dobson's "Loving Pauper". In 1974 he began working with producer Alvin Ranglin, and that year he had his first Jamaican number one single with "Love Is Overdue". Isaacs recorded for many of Jamaica's top producers during the 1970s, including Winston "Niney" Holness, Gussie Clarke ("My Time"), Lloyd Campbell ("Slavemaster"), Glen Brown ("One One Cocoa Fill Basket"), Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sidney Crooks and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Mr. Cop"). By the late 1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, and only challenged by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley. Between 1977 and 1978, Isaacs again teamed up with Alvin Ranglin, recording a string of hits including "Border" and "Number One" for Ranglin's GG's label.

International stardom seemed assured in 1978 when Isaacs signed to the Virgin Records offshoot Front Line Records, and appeared in the film Rockers, in which he performed "Slavemaster". The Cool Ruler (which became one of his nicknames) and Soon Forward albums, however, failed to sell as well as expected, although they are now considered among his best work. In 1981, he made his first appearance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival (returning annually until 1991), and he moved on to the Charisma Records offshoot Pre, who released his The Lonely Lover (another nickname that stuck) and More Gregory albums along with a string of increasingly successful singles including "Tune In", "Permanent Lover", "Wailing Rudy" and "Tribute to Waddy". He signed to Island Records and released the record that finally saw him break through to a wider audience, "Night Nurse", the title track from his first album for the label (Night Nurse (1982)). Although "Night Nurse" was not a chart hit in either the UK or US, it was hugely popular in clubs and received heavy radio play, and the album reached #32 in the UK."

Another old african LP picked up in Brick Lane market many years ago I think. I thought I had uploaded tracks from this already but a quick check didn't find any so here is side one for your listening pleasure.

Wikipedia says -

"Since the colonial era, Kinshasa, Congo's capital, has been one of the great centers of musical innovation, ranking alongside Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg and Abidjan in influence. The country, however, was carved out from territories controlled by many different ethnic groups, many of which had little in common with each other. Each maintained (and continue to do so) their own folk music traditions, and there was little in the way of a pan-Congolese musical identity until the 1940s.

Like much of Africa, Congo was dominated during the World War 2 era by rumba, a fusion of Latin and African musical styles that came from the island of Cuba. Congolese musicians appropriated rumba and adapted its characteristics for their own instruments and tastes. Following World War 2, record labels began appearing, including CEFA, Ngoma, Loningisa and Opika, each issuing many 78 rpm records; Radio Congo Belge also began broadcasting during this period. Bill Alexandre, a Belgian working for CEFA, brought electric guitars to the Congo.

Popular early musicians include Feruzi, who is said to have popularized rumba during the 1930s and guitarists like Zachery Elenga, Antoine Wendo Kolosoy and, most influentially, Jean Bosco Mwenda. Alongside rumba, other imported genres like American swing, French cabaret and Ghanaian highlife were also popular.

In 1953, the Congolese music scene began to differentiate itself with the formation of African Jazz (led by Joseph "Grand Kalle" Kabasele), the first full-time orchestra to record and perform, and the debut of fifteen-year-old guitarist Francois Luambo Makiadi (aka Franco). Both would go on to be some of the earliest Congolese music stars. African Jazz, which included Kabasele, sometimes called the father of modern Congolese music, as well as legendary Cameroonian saxophonist and keyboardist Manu Dibango, has become one of the most well-known groups in Africa, largely due to 1960's "Independence Cha-Cha-Cha", which celebrated Congo's independence and became an anthem for Africans across the continent.

Big bands (1930s–1970s)Into the 1950s, Kinshasa and Brazzaville became culturally linked, and many musicians moved back and forth between them, most importantly including Nino Malapet and the founder of OK Jazz, Jean Serge Essous. Recording technology had evolved to allow for longer playing times, and the musicians focused on the seben, an instrumental percussion break with a swift tempo that was common in rumba. Both OK Jazz and African Jazz continued performing throughout the decade until African Jazz broke up in the mid-1960s. Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr. Nico then formed African Fiesta, which incorporated new innovations from throughout Africa as well as American and British soul, rock and country. African Fiesta, however, lasted only two years before disintegrating, and Tabu Ley formed Orchestre Afrisa International instead, but this new group was not able to rival OK Jazz in influence for very long.

Many of the most influential musicians of Congo's history emerged from one or more of these big bands, including Sam Mangwana, Ndombe Opetum, Vicky Longomba, Dizzy Madjeku and Kiamanguana Verckys. Mangwana was the most popular of these solo performers, keeping a loyal fanbase even while switching from Vox Africa and Festival des Marquisards to Afrisa, followed by OK Jazz and a return to Afrisa before setting up a West African group called the African All Stars. Mose Fan Fan of OK Jazz also proved influential, bringing Congolese rumba to East Africa, especially Kenya, after moving there in 1974 with Somo Somo. Rumba also spread through the rest of Africa, with Brazzaville's Pamela M'ounka and Tchico Thicaya moving to Abidjan and Ryco Jazz taking the Congolese sound to the French Antilles. In Congo, students at Gombe High School became entranced with American rock and funk, especially after James Brown visited the country in 1969. Los Nickelos and Thu Zahina emerged from Gombe High, with the former moving to Brussels and the latter, though existing only briefly, becoming legendary for their energetic stage shows that included frenetic, funky drums during the seben and an often psychedelic sound. This period in the late 60s is the soukous era, though the term soukous now has a much broader meaning, and refers to all of the subsequent developments in Congolese music as well."

Not sure where this record came from but I've had it for a while , tucked away in the deepest recesses of a cupboard. Best place for it I hear you all cry. I must admit I was hoping for more than the kitsch sleeve delivered - it being mostly soulless lift musak and MOR orchestral schmalzh of a most tedious kind. I'm not sure how the likes of Les Paul got in there. Put together for the Dutch airline Transavia in the 60's on the Transavia Holland label. One presumes they gave it away to customers to lure them to all those sunny places they mention in the tunes - Granada, Spanish Harlem, Madrid, Isle Of Capri etc.Included in this selection are Les Paul, Franck Pourcel, Joe Loss, Vittoria and Manuel.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

More rather battered vinyl from Liverpool - this time an LP on the Durium label from the late 50's I would guess. A fun group of Italians who are kind of cross between Mike & Bernie Winters and the Spike Jones band.

"Marino Marini (1924-1997) was an Italian popular musician who achieved international success in the 1950s and 1960s.

He was born into a family of musicians on 11th May 1924 in Seggiano in the Grosetto region of Italy. After briefly studying electronics, he studied piano, violin and composition at the Conservatorio Rossini at Bologna, teaching music on his graduation. In 1947, after military service, he was appointed artistic director of the Metropolitan music hall in Naples, where he developed a liking for Neapolitan music. In 1948 he visited the United States for six months, meeting Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton and Charlie Ventura. American jazz was also a formative influence.

On his return, Marini wrote music for films and revues and played in cabaret in Rome and Naples.

In 1955, he placed a newspaper advert seeking “young musicians without experience, singing in tune. If not cheerful, don't apply." From the many applicants he chose Tony “Toto” Savio (guitar), Sergio (drums) and Ruggiero Cori (bass and vocal) for a quartet, Marini playing piano and occasionally singing solo. This quartet played together from 1955 to 1960, a period regarded[1] as the Marino Marini Quartet’s most prolific and successful.

They made their first recording on the Durium label in 1955. The following year they appeared on Italian TV. Their recordings of Marini’s compositions Guaglione, Don Ciccio o' piscatore, Rico Vacilon, La Pansè, and Maruzzella were very popular, Guaglione becoming the first European single to sell more than five million copies. (It was used on the soundtrack of the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley.) Following this successful debut, Marini commenced touring with his quartet, in the following years performing in hundreds of concerts in western and eastern Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Japan.

Marini's recordings in the late 1950s and early 1960s included covers of Domenico Modugno’s Volare, Come Prima and Ciao ciao Bambina and Rocco Granata’s Marina. In 1960, he won the first and the second prizes in the Naples song festival with Serenata a Margellina and Uè uè uè che femmena. In 1958 he performed Mikis Theodorakis's The Honeymoon Song in Michael Powell's film Honeymoon."

Another scratchy record from the junk shop in Liverpool on the Paragon label in Canada - signed by both Lonnie and Lottie on the reverse, From the 60's I would guess. Versions of old standard country songs like Stand By Your Man and The Games People Play etc. I suppose I was rather attracted by the odd sleeve photo - shame it had been scrawled on by some idiot.

"Lonnie and Lottie were a brother and sister act that were popular with the fans in the southwestern Ontario, Canada area in the 1960s. While many fans might associate a band name of Po' Folks with another country legend, that was the name of the band that backed this popular duo.

Both of them were born in the city of Maniwaki, Quebec, located due north of Ottawa.

The two of them began singing together at an early age. Audiences were listening to their singing talents on stage, radio and television when they were both teenagers.

An album of theirs entitled "Just Between The Two of Us" gives the listener a taste of their harmonies. They also did solo numbers of popular tunes of the day. Backing Lonnie and Lottie on that album were Larry Dyer on lead guitar, Bob Wingrove on steel guitar, John Scott on bass, Gary Nugent on drums, M. DeBenidictis on the piano and organ.

Lonnie and Lottie made appearances on the well-known country music shows that were airing in Canada in that era. They appeared on the famous CHML Main Street Jamboree show that broadcast out of Hamilton, Ontario. Another famous show they appeared on was the CKNX Barn Dance, billed as the largest traveling barn dance show that originated out of Wingham, Ontario.

Other shows included the Gary Buck show that broadcast over CKCO-TV in Kitchener; the Red Barn Jamboree over CKLB in Oshawa.

During their career, they also had their own radio show on CHIQ in Hamilton. "

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Bumper crop of old scratchy records from a junk shop in Liverpool the other day whilst going round the Biennial. I have already featured Anna Russell here some years ago and she is due for an update. This is a very worn LP on Philips from 1958 when she was obviously at the top of her performing abilities. Hard to describe her comedy really - a quaint kind of female Hoffnung crossed with Joyce Grenfell. Sounds very dated now but still mildly amusing and I've always been a sucker for songs about bananas!

Wikipedia says -

"Russell was born in Maida Vale, London, England, though some sources say her birthplace was London, Ontario. She was educated at St Felix School at Southwold, Suffolk, at Harrogate College and in Brussels and Paris. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She had a difficult childhood, and particularly a difficult relationship with her mother, who often shipped her off to live with other relatives for some time. Russell was twice married and divorced, first to John Denison and second to artist Charles Goldhamer. In her "Who's Who" entry she described herself as single.

Russell's early career included a few engagements in opera (including a disastrous appearance as a substitute Santuzza in a British touring production of Cavalleria rusticana, where she clumsily tripped on a set piece and pulled it down – an event later used in her comedy) – as well as appearances as a folk singer on BBC radio in 1931. Russell's mother was Canadian, and the family returned in 1939 to Toronto, after her father's death, where she began to appear on local radio stations as an entertainer. By 1940, she was beginning to find success as a soloist on the concert stage in Canada. Russell's first one-woman show as a parodist was sponsored by the Toronto Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire in 1942, though it was the Canadian conductor Sir Ernest MacMillan who really set her on her international career as a "musical cartoonist", when he invited her to take part in his annual burlesque Christmas Box Symphony Concert in 1944. Russell made her New York City debut in her one-woman show in 1948, which she toured throughout North America, Britain, Australia and the rest of the English-speaking world."

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Another old radio show from the 80's with DJ Charlie Gillett talking to guest E.T. Mensah from Ghana. The usual fascinating chat and great record choices - mostly Ghanaian "Highlife" and some calypso. Also studio guest Ted Hawkins plays a couple of songs in session.

"Highlife, dance music played mostly in Ghana and Nigeria, represents one of the century's first fusions of African roots and western music, and before 1970, it ruled dancefloors across much of West Africa. The World War II era introduced American swing to the highlife mix, already a blend of Trinidadian calypso, military brass band music, Cuban son and older African song forms. Trumpeter and bandleader E.T. Mensah, pioneered the development of the swing-jazz influenced highlife dance-bands that were so popular throughout West Africa in the 1950's and 60's. Indeed, these urban dance bands became the musical zeitgeist of the optimistic period of early independence.

Mensah played music from childhood starting out in 1930 as a flautist in that Accra Orchestra, a band of school children. With his brother Yebuah, Mensah formed the Accra Rhythmic Orchestra in the late 30s. World War II brought an influx of Europeans to Accra, including musicians with jazz training, who had an impact on the local scene.

In 1948, Mensah formed the Tempos and began playing a new music, highlife, bringing the freedom of jazz and older local guitar styles into the more formal dance band music of the pre-war era. The band soon began touring in Nigeria, where they signaled a sea change that would soon sweep the region. The Tempos' songs in English, Twi, Ga, Fante, Ewe, Efik and Hausa seduced admirers as far away as England. In 1956, Mensah's career reached a peak when he performed with the great Louis Armstrong in Ghana. With the rise of Congolese music in the 1960s, highlife's golden era ended. But Mensah continued to perform, as did other top big bands, Jerry Hansen and his Ramblers International, and Uhuru. In the Tempos' wake came many guitar highlife outfits, including Nana Ampadu and his band the African Brothers as well as the City Boys and A.B. Crentsil. Nana now operates a recording studio where he produces releases for the African Brothers, the City Boys, and other highlife groups. Dr. K. Gyasi and his Noble Kings pioneered a sound called sikyi highlife, a lulling, wistful take on the classic dance music. Gyasi too still records, as does Kumasi-based sikyi highlife singer Nana Tuffour. They are all the musical descendants of E.T. Mensah."

Another dusty cassette from the 80's. This time a band who deserved more success than they got at the time. Here they play a short set on the In Concert spot on BBC Radio One back in the mid 80's just after their second album came out. I think its DJ Pete Drummond who you can hear briefly at the end.

"Founded from the remnants of The Outsiders, the original lineup of The Sound consisted of Adrian Borland (vocals, guitar), Graham Bailey (bass), Mike Dudley (drums) and Benita "Bi" Marshall (keyboards, saxophone, clarinet). In 1979, the band signed a contract with Korova Records, a small label under Warner Brothers, to produce three albums. They debuted with Jeopardy, which received favorable reviews.

The second album, From the Lions Mouth, saw the replacement of keyboard player Marshall with Colvin "Max" Mayers, and more accolades from the critics, but neither record caused the band to break beyond a cult status. Korova pressured Borland and his mates to come up with a more commercially successful third album. In an act of rebellion, the band responded with All Fall Down, an album that took them even further away from that direction. Drummer Mike Dudley told it this way: "We thought [the label wasn't] giving us the support that we were due and that if they really wanted a commercial album, they had got to put plenty of money behind it, which with both Jeopardy and From the Lions Mouth they hadn't really done....So when they turned around and said 'The solution is for you to write more commercial songs,' we thought, 'Fuck you,' and went ahead and produced All Fall Down."

During the early 1980s, The Sound toured throughout Europe, covering the UK and much of the continent. Like their contemporaries, the Comsat Angels (whom they toured with in 1981), they enjoyed perhaps their greatest success in the Netherlands, developing a substantial following there. The Sound recorded several Peel sessions and performed the single "Sense Of Purpose" on the TV show Old Grey Whistle Test (circa 1981). In 1983 and 1984, they made two short tours of the US."

Another cassette from the dusty box. This one is a bit of a mystery. I assume its from Sudan but I could be wrong. The Arabic writing doesnt give many clues. If anybody has an inkling of where this comes from I'd love to know.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Another cassette from the cupboard which hasnt seen the light of day for a while. I think someone sent me this from Poland back in the 80's when I exchanged many mix tapes and compilations through the mail art network - a forerunner of this blog it could be said.

Wikiepedia says -

"Band was founded in 1983 in Warsaw by Dariusz Gierszewski, Andrzej Zeńczewski, Artur Miłoszewski and Piotr Strojnowski. In few months the band took three other artists Waldemar Deska, Andrzej Krzywy and Jarosław Woszczyna. In that time they played songs like Do plastica and Przed nami wielka przestrzeń.

They played in Holland, France, Denmark and USSR. In 1985 they released their new album called DAAB which had a hits like Kalejdoskop moich dróg, Fala ludzkich serc, W zakamarkach naszych dusz, Fryzjer na plaży (instrumental), Ogrodu serce. The latter was the best song in Daab history ever. After this some changes in the band occurred. They added a new member Tomasz Pierzchalski and removed Jarosław Woszczyzna and Piotr Strojnowski.

Andrzej Krzywy left the band soon for a new founded group, De Mono In 1989, because of their friendship, they returned to the band to make a new album, ///. The band restructured into an organisation. The main members were Zeńczewski, Miłoszewski and Gierszewski. They worked with guitar players Michał Grymuza and Grzegorz Rytka, Piotr Korzeniowski, Jacek Wojcieszuk."

A cassette that looks very dodgy with a thin paper sleeve and very little information on it - originally from Cheshire Street market in the 80's I think.Seems to have come out originally on the TCD label in 1985.Including tracks Cherie Coco, La Femme De Mon Patron,Je men Fouts, Soungourou Ba, and Kanan Djanfa.

Very little can be found out about him on the internet. All I know he is from the Ivory Coast and had a big hit with "Mon Coeur Balance" in the 80's which Charlie Gillett played quite often. Probably recorded in Paris like so man Soukous records at that time.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Another great radio show from the 1985 with Charlie talking to Miriam Makeba. City Beats 18 is all it says on the cassette sleeve from which it is dubbed. Again I apologise for the poor sound quality due to tha age of the tape.

Wikipedia says -

" Miriam Makeba was born in Johannesburg in 1932. Her mother was a Swazi sangoma and her father, who died when she was six, was a Xhosa. As a child, she sang at the Kilmerton Training Institute in Pretoria, which she attended for eight years.

Makeba first toured with an amateur group. Her professional career began in the 1950s with the Manhattan Brothers, before she formed her own group, The Skylarks, singing a blend of jazz and traditional melodies of South Africa.

In 1959, she performed in the musical King Kong alongside Hugh Masekela, her future husband. Though she was a successful recording artist, she was only receiving a few dollars for each recording session and no provisional royalties, and was keen to go to the United States. Her break came when she had a short guest appearance in the anti-apartheid documentary Come Back, Africa in 1959, by independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin. The short cameo made an enormous impression on the viewers and Lionel Rogosin managed to organise a visa for her to leave South Africa and to attend the première of the film at the Venice Film Festival."

Having listened to this again I realise that Miriam Makeba isn't actually on this tape but there must be another tape with her on but I cant find it at the moment so you'll have to make do with the second half of the two hour prgramme. If the bit with Miriam turns up I will indeed upload it.

Some native American music now on cassette I found in the Sally Army shop the other day. This gives you some idea what to expect if you attend the annual Inter-Tribal Ceremonial at Red Rock State Park near Gallup , New Mexico. Recorded by James Lascelles in 1986.

A cassette for a change now- found at the Sally Army shop the other day for ten pence. Sadly this is not really the Fado I was exepcting and more a watered down version MOR for entry into the Eurovision Song Contest or something. Better examples of her work can be found on YouTube where she is singing with a small group of guitar players and not the Mantovani type strings you can hear on this. I upload one side anyway so you can see what I mean. Some of you may even enjoy this but it's the stuff I usually run a mile from!

Wikipedia says -

"Amália da Piedade Rodrigues, GCSE, GCIH, (July 23, 1920 – October 6, 1999), also known as Amália Rodrigues (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈmaliɐ ʁuˈdɾiɡɨʃ]) was a Portuguese singer and actress. Despite official documents which give her date of birth as July 23, Rodrigues always said her birthday was July 1, 1920.[1] She was born in Lisbon, in the rua Martim Vaz (Martim Vaz Street), neighborhood of Pena. Her father was a trumpet player and cobbler from Fundão who returned there when Amália was just over a year old, leaving her to live in Lisbon with her maternal grandmother in a deeply Catholic environment until she was 14, when her parents returned to the capital and she moved back in with them.

"She was known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") and was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. In fact, she was one of the most important figures in the genre’s development, and enjoyed a 40-year recording and stage career. Rodrigues' performances and choice of repertoire pushed fado’s boundaries and helped redefine it and reconfigure it for her and subsequent generations. In effect, Rodrigues wrote the rulebook on what fado could be and on how a female fadista — or fado singer — should perform it, to the extent that she remains an unsurpassable model and an unending source of repertoire for all those who came afterwards. Rodrigues enjoyed an extensive international career between the 1950s and the 1970s, although in an era where such efforts were not as easily quantified as today. Other well-known international fado artists such as Madredeus, Dulce Pontes and Mariza have come close, however."

A Foreign Affair radio show from the early 80's with guest Shadow, who plays some Soca and Calypso from Trinidad.

Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music says -

"(b Winston Bailey, 4 Oct., late '30s, Les Coteaux, Tobago) Unique calypsonian and soca artist, usually referred to as Shadow. Grew up on grandfather's farm, began composing at age nine; joined group Fire Sticks that provided backing vocals at Mighty Sparrow's tent, appeared solo there '70 but forgot his lines. Joined Victory tent '71 led by Lord Blakie (Carlton Joseph), recorded 'The Threat' that year (directed at Sparrow and Lord Kitchener); moved '73 to Kitchener's tent for three seasons. Infl. by style of Mighty Spoiler (Theophilus Phillip: 1926--60), the great exponent of humorous and imaginative calypso. He has a propensity for the eccentric with a touch of eeriness; often wears dark clothing with broad-brimmed hat and regal cape; some of his calypsos tell of bizarre, sometimes violent events in an unmistakable raspy voice, interspersed with tremulous humming; from early on his work also had a strand of insightfulness and sensitivity, qualities which have become more developed and prominent in his later output. "

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I had rather a soft spot for old reggae, ska etc. back in the 70's and this was picked up then for 20p , probably from Cheshire Street flea market when I lived nearby in Stepney. It has no sleeve and has been used as a frisbee at some point but still sounds good despite the scratches and pops. I particularly love the Abyssinians "Declaration Of Rights" which reminds me of those times and listening to the great Reggae show on Radio London just before Charlie Gillett came on Sunday mornings.

Wikipedia says of the Abyssinians -

"The vocal trio was originally formed in 1968 by Bernard Collins and Donald Manning. Their first song was "Satta Massagana", which was strongly influenced by Carlton Manning's "Happy Land". "Satta Massagana" is a Rastafarian hymn sung partly in the ancient Ethiopian Amharic language. They recruited a third vocalist, who was still at school and often unable to attend rehearsals; He was soon replaced by Donald's brother Lynford Manning, who had previously been a member of their brother Carlton Manning's group Carlton and The Shoes."Satta Massagana" was first recorded for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in March 1969, but he decided against releasing it, seeing no commercial potential for what he saw as a song constituting cultural subversion. In 1971, the group purchased the master tapes from Dodd for 90 pounds and released it on their own Clinch label, the single becoming a massive success, prompting Dodd to release his own instrumental and deejay versions. The group released further takes on the song on Clinch by Tommy McCook, Big Youth, and Dillinger, as well as their own "Mabrak", featuring the group reciting passages from the Old Testament. It has since been recorded by dozens of artists. The group's second release, "Declaration of Rights", featured Leroy Sibbles on backing vocals, and like their first was a huge hit in Jamaica, (and subsequently in the international market) and has been covered several times since. Their 1973 single "Y Mas Gan" was similar to "Satta" in its use of Amharic."

Found this LP of Private Eye'sGolden Years of Sound at a boot sale a couple of years ago. It's a compliation of all the Christmas flexi discs they used to give away with the satirical magazine between 1964 and 1970. It has contributions by John Bird, Eleanor Bron, Barry Fantoni, Wiilliam Rushton and many others. On the two snippets here you can hear Peter Cook and Barry Humphries (doing his Barry Mackensie voice) and Dudley Moore singing a song as Whispering Jim Narg.This Lyn label copy was published by Private Eye in 1973. Most of it sounds pretty dated now , being mainly about the politics and personalities of the time who have long since passed from public conciousness (even in the U.K.).

Wikipedia says -

"Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, currently edited by Ian Hislop.

Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic of public figures deemed incompetent, inefficient or corrupt, and has become a self-styled "thorn in the side" of the British establishment, though it also receives much criticism and ire, both for its style and for its willingness to print defamatory and controversial stories. This was reflected in its once prominent libel lawsuits, for which it became notorious.

As the UK's best-selling current affairs magazine, such is its long-term popularity and significance that many recurring in-jokes in Private Eye have entered popular culture from its pages."

Monday, October 18, 2010

A curiosity now I found in the Hospice shop today - an EP on the HMV label circa 1960's. A soundscape of the last century starting with the clip clop of a horse drawn cab and ending with the bleep bleep of Sputnik. In between the voices of Churchill, Hitler, Marie Lloyd, Curuso, Gracie Fields and George Formby to name but a few. Commentary by Rt.Hon Lord Brabazon of Tara whose fruity tones link one voice and sound effect to the next in a weird yet strangely comforting way. A time capsule for the ears.

Whilst I'm in the mood for uploadling these old 78's I might as well include this oddity which I've had for 30 years or more. It's a BBC soundtrack disc made of metal with a plastic coating. It plays at 78 and is very scratched so apologies for the crackles and pops. The handwritten label suggests it was made for inclusion in the radio series "Journey Into Space" that was popular in the 50's but why this song? I have another version of "When It's Night Time In Italy , It's Wednesday Over Here" by the Everly Brothers. Bing Crosby apparently recorded a version but I've never heard it. I assume its an old music hall song. I will delve further into the internet and see what I find.

My record collecting chum and devout Chas & Dave fan Jim Benson told me about this record a few years back. He says it's an early session by Chas & Dave during a spell of financial insecurity when they desperately needed the money.Chas Hodges plays guitar as well as piano on this session and Mick Burt is on Drums.Coincidentally I found a copy at a bootsale a couple of months later! Its on the cheap and cheerful Avenue label and released in 1971.

"Pianist Chas Hodges and guitarist Dave Peacock were widely experienced around the British rock scene of the 1960s and early 70s before teaming up with drummer Mick Burt (another much-travelled musician who had gone back to his original trade as a plumber) to form the group. Chas had worked with the legendary producer Joe Meek, backed Jerry Lee Lewis, played with Mike Berry and the Outlaws, along with Ritchie Blackmore, and also the highly respected Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, which had Burt on drums. He then joined Albert Lee’s cult band Heads Hands and Feet before playing with Dave and Albert in Black Claw. Dave had been equally active, Starting out in The Rolling Stones (no, not them!) in 1960. Spells with The Tumbleweeds, Mick Greenwood, Jerry Donaghue, and the above mentioned Black Claw followed prior to the pair coming together to go out on their own as Chas & Dave."

Continuing the homage to Charlie Gillett who sadly passed away earlier this year - here are two old The Alchemists shows from Capital Radio from the early 80's. The first features Mike Howlett the musician and producer who plays some records he likes and some he had produced by the likes of The Police, OMD and Flock Of Seagulls.The other show is on the theme of Police & Thieves and features records by Bob Marley, Ian Dury, Roy Brown and Charles Penrose.

Wikipedia says -

"Mike Howlett (born 27 April 1950) is a Fijian-born musician, Grammy Award winning producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia.In the late 1960s Howlett was the bassist in Sydney pop band The Affair which travelled to England after winning a music competition. He then settled in London and in 1973 joined renowned British progressive rock group Gong, which had been founded by another Australian expatriate, Daevid Allen. Howlett remained with Gong until 1977, recording several albums with them and co-writing much of their material later in this period with drummer Pierre Moerlen.After leaving Gong, Howlett formed the short-lived band Strontium 90 in 1977, bringing together Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers for the first time; the latter trio would later achieve massive success as The Police. Howlett originally intended Strontium 90 to consist of himself, Sting, Summers and drummer Chris Cutler, but Cutler was unavailable and so Copeland was recruited, brought in by Sting, with whom he had already been playing in an early incarnation of The Police. Howlett taped several demos of the band, including the very first version of Sting's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" which was the first recording of the song ever made. He also taped a Paris Gong reunion concert in May 1977, which marked the first time that the future Police played together live. An archival collection of Strontium 90 material was released as the album Strontium 90: Police Academy in 1997."

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

LP on the Sue label from the 60's. Biggest hit was Harlem Shuffle and most of the other songs on here are variations of that idea or else soulful ballads.

Wikipedia says -

"The original duo were Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson (born Earl Lee Nelson, 8 September 1928, Lake Charles, Louisiana - 12 July 2008, Los Angeles) They had both been members of The Hollywood Flames, a prolific doo-wop group in Los Angeles, California whose major hit was "Buzz Buzz Buzz" in 1958, on which Nelson sang lead.

By 1957, Byrd had started a parallel solo career, writing and recording for contractual reasons as Bobby Day. He wrote and recorded the original version of "Little Bitty Pretty One", and had a hit of his own with "Rockin' Robin" (1958). In 1960, Day/Byrd and Nelson began recording together as Bob & Earl, on the Class record label. However, these releases had relatively little success, and Day/Byrd restarted his solo career.

In 1962, Nelson then recruited a second "Bob", Bobby Relf (January 10, 1937 - November 20, 2007), who also used the stage names of Bobby Garrett and Bobby Valentino. Relf had already led several Los Angeles based acts in his career, including the Laurels, the Upfronts, and Valentino and the Lovers. The latter two groups also featured the then pianist and bass singer, Barry White.

This duo of Relf and Nelson recorded several singles for different labels, before "Harlem Shuffle" in 1963. The song was written by Relf and Nelson, arranged by Barry White, and produced by Fred Smith. It was based on a number called "Slauson Shuffletime" (named after a boulevard in Los Angeles) by another Los Angeles singer, Round Robin. When released on the Marc label, "Harlem Shuffle" became a modest hit on the R&B chart. Its vocal interplay directly influenced later duos such as Sam and Dave. However, its main success came as late as 1969, when it was re-released in the UK and became a Top Ten hit there. Reportedly, George Harrison called it his favourite record of all time.

By that time, Nelson had achieved further success as a solo artist under the alias of Jackie Lee, with "The Duck", a hit dance record released in 1965, which reached #14 in the U.S. (Jackie was Nelson's wife's name and Lee his own middle name). When "Harlem Shuffle" became successful on reissue, Nelson and Relf reunited as Bob & Earl to tour. The duo split up for the last time in the early 1970s."

I had heard that The New Vaudeville Band contained ex-members of the Bonzo Dog Band so expected something similar but this is pleasant enough pop but nothing more. Indeed it turns out that only one ex-member of the Bonzos joined them, Bob Kerr, but he left shortly afterwards due to musical differences and formed the Bob Kerr Whoopee Band (featured here some months ago ).

Wikipedia says -

"The New Vaudeville Band was a group created by songwriter Geoff Stephens (born 1 October 1934, New Southgate, North London) in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallee megaphone style vocal. To his surprise, the song became a transatlantic hit that autumn, reaching the Top 10 in the UK and rising to No. 1 in the U.S. Global sales of the single were over three million, with the RIAA certification of gold disc status. The track also won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1967. The lead vocal was sung by John Carter, formerly of The Ivy League, who had sung on the demo of the record, which Stephens decided to keep for the commercial release. An initial long-playing album was also issued in late 1966 by Fontana Records, also titled Winchester Cathedral.

When Stephens received several requests for The New Vaudeville Band to tour, he had to put together a group, as the song was recorded by session musicians hired only for the recording session. He contacted a real group, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which played similar music at the time.[1] Only Bob Kerr from that group was interested, so he left The Bonzos to help Stephens form a touring version of The New Vaudeville Band, which included original session drummer Henri Harrison. The lead singer of the touring version of the group was Alan Klein, who was billed as 'Tristram - Seventh Earl Of Cricklewood'.

In 1967, The New Vaudeville Band released the On Tour album, with the single "Peek-A-Boo," which made the Billboard chart that February and reached No. 7 in the UK singles chart. Further UK hits followed with "Finchley Central" (No. 11) and "Green Street Green" (No. 37), both based on locations in London and therefore less appealing to the American public.[1] In 1968, the group played a major role on the film soundtrack, The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom, but their novelty was beginning to wear off with the record-buying public."

Another old african LP picked up in Brick Lane market many years ago I think. I thought I had uploaded tracks from this already but a quick check didn't find any so here is side two for your listening pleasure.

Wikipedia says-

"Since the colonial era, Kinshasa, Congo's capital, has been one of the great centers of musical innovation, ranking alongside Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg and Abidjan in influence. The country, however, was carved out from territories controlled by many different ethnic groups, many of which had little in common with each other. Each maintained (and continue to do so) their own folk music traditions, and there was little in the way of a pan-Congolese musical identity until the 1940s.

Like much of Africa, Congo was dominated during the World War 2 era by rumba, a fusion of Latin and African musical styles that came from the island of Cuba. Congolese musicians appropriated rumba and adapted its characteristics for their own instruments and tastes. Following World War 2, record labels began appearing, including CEFA, Ngoma, Loningisa and Opika, each issuing many 78 rpm records; Radio Congo Belge also began broadcasting during this period. Bill Alexandre, a Belgian working for CEFA, brought electric guitars to the Congo.

Popular early musicians include Feruzi, who is said to have popularized rumba during the 1930s and guitarists like Zachery Elenga, Antoine Wendo Kolosoy and, most influentially, Jean Bosco Mwenda. Alongside rumba, other imported genres like American swing, French cabaret and Ghanaian highlife were also popular.

In 1953, the Congolese music scene began to differentiate itself with the formation of African Jazz (led by Joseph "Grand Kalle" Kabasele), the first full-time orchestra to record and perform, and the debut of fifteen-year-old guitarist Francois Luambo Makiadi (aka Franco). Both would go on to be some of the earliest Congolese music stars. African Jazz, which included Kabasele, sometimes called the father of modern Congolese music, as well as legendary Cameroonian saxophonist and keyboardist Manu Dibango, has become one of the most well-known groups in Africa, largely due to 1960's "Independence Cha-Cha-Cha", which celebrated Congo's independence and became an anthem for Africans across the continent.

Big bands (1930s–1970s)Into the 1950s, Kinshasa and Brazzaville became culturally linked, and many musicians moved back and forth between them, most importantly including Nino Malapet and the founder of OK Jazz, Jean Serge Essous. Recording technology had evolved to allow for longer playing times, and the musicians focused on the seben, an instrumental percussion break with a swift tempo that was common in rumba. Both OK Jazz and African Jazz continued performing throughout the decade until African Jazz broke up in the mid-1960s. Tabu Ley Rochereau and Dr. Nico then formed African Fiesta, which incorporated new innovations from throughout Africa as well as American and British soul, rock and country. African Fiesta, however, lasted only two years before disintegrating, and Tabu Ley formed Orchestre Afrisa International instead, but this new group was not able to rival OK Jazz in influence for very long.

Many of the most influential musicians of Congo's history emerged from one or more of these big bands, including Sam Mangwana, Ndombe Opetum, Vicky Longomba, Dizzy Madjeku and Kiamanguana Verckys. Mangwana was the most popular of these solo performers, keeping a loyal fanbase even while switching from Vox Africa and Festival des Marquisards to Afrisa, followed by OK Jazz and a return to Afrisa before setting up a West African group called the African All Stars. Mose Fan Fan of OK Jazz also proved influential, bringing Congolese rumba to East Africa, especially Kenya, after moving there in 1974 with Somo Somo. Rumba also spread through the rest of Africa, with Brazzaville's Pamela M'ounka and Tchico Thicaya moving to Abidjan and Ryco Jazz taking the Congolese sound to the French Antilles. In Congo, students at Gombe High School became entranced with American rock and funk, especially after James Brown visited the country in 1969. Los Nickelos and Thu Zahina emerged from Gombe High, with the former moving to Brussels and the latter, though existing only briefly, becoming legendary for their energetic stage shows that included frenetic, funky drums during the seben and an often psychedelic sound. This period in the late 60s is the soukous era, though the term soukous now has a much broader meaning, and refers to all of the subsequent developments in Congolese music as well."